Unfortunately, this performative move wont do much of anything to address the very real threat of chaos and disinformation in the wake of the election. And at the same time that Facebook is seeking kudos for its political ad moratorium, its making another major change: turning on algorithmic amplification for posts within groups.This means that you wont just see posts from groups that youve signed up for, but also posts from other groups that Facebook thinks you should see.
She's the deputy director of Fight for the Future, the viral digital rights group known for organizing the largest online protests in human history.
The algorithmic boost, nudging like-minded people into each others filter bubbles, will supercharge recruitment for toxic and harmful groupsthe cesspools where white supremacist conspiracy theories are born.
Facebook theatrically banning political ads while supercharging its rage machine is the perfect example of the platform making cosmetic changes to appease critics while plowing full steam ahead with a business model thats fundamentally incompatible with democracy and human rights. If Facebook really wants to avoid being used to poison and undermine democracy, it needs to take a much more significant step than banning certain types of ads.Instead, the company should immediately shut down the algorithms across its platform that artificially amplify and suppress users organic posts in a quest for maximum engagement .
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